Gary council withdraws subpoenas in investigation of emergency fund transfers

Gregory Tejeda / Post-Tribune

Common Council member LaVetta Sparks-Wade, D-6th, said she still thinks it was proper for the council to seek subpoenas to force city officials to provide information related to a Fire Department fund.

Common Council member LaVetta Sparks-Wade, D-6th, said she still thinks it was proper for the council to seek subpoenas to force city officials to provide information related to a Fire Department fund. (Gregory Tejeda / Post-Tribune)

The Gary Common Council voted Tuesday to withdraw its demand that subpoenas be issued to some city officials to get documents related to a Fire Department special fund for Emergency Medical Services expenses.

An investigation conducted by a private accounting firm at the request of Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson had determined that some $8.1 million had been improperly transferred from the fund to cover other government expenses – with just over half of that covering city payroll.

Councilwoman LaVetta Sparks-Wade, D-6th, has said she believes that is inadequate, and that the Common Council ought to conduct their own investigation. That led the council to overwhelmingly approve her request last month for subpoenas to be issued to require documents related to the Fire Department’s EMS fund to be turned over to them.

But Common Council attorney Rinzer Williams on Tuesday informed council members that while they have the authority to issue subpoenas, they do not have automatic authority to enforce them. They would have needed to get an outside judge to authorize their request for it to have any binding authority.

The council then voted to rescind the request.

All council members except for Sparks-Wade voted to rescind. Sparks-Wade said she still thinks her way of handling the issue was the correct one. In fact, she said she’d like to amend her original request to get copies of text messages sent by government officials related to the EMS fund – known formally as Fund 224.

“If I were given another opportunity, I’d do it again,” Sparks-Wade said of her desire to issue subpoenas, which at the time she said were aimed at Freeman-Wilson, her chief of staff, Dayna Bennett, city controller Angelia Hayes and Fire Chief Paul Bradley.

Rescinding the request for subpoenas does not impact the desire of the Common Council to do its own investigation into Fund 224, where money reported was transferred without seeking proper approval between Jan. 1, 2015, and March 31 of this year, officials said.

The mayor’s office complied last week with the request, sending electronic copies of all related documents to all the Common Council members.

The council’s Investigations Committee already has set a schedule for this month by which time council members will send written questions to the mayor, who will then respond in writing. An actual hearing to study information further could take place Oct. 23 at City Hall.

Council President Ronald Brewer said that committee, chaired by Councilman Herb Smith, D-At large, will do a thorough study of the documents they have received. “Then, they will take it from there,” he said.

The Fund 224 investigation was not the lone issue upon which Sparks-Wade and Freeman-Wilson were at odds on Tuesday.

The two previously had debated over whether or not the mayor had improperly given herself a pay raise several years ago, and Sparks-Wade on Tuesday insisted she was correct.

Sparks-Wade said she has seen city documents indicating the mayor’s compensation went from $129,922 in 2013 to $142,095 in 2014.

Freeman-Wilson, however, said that what Sparks-Wade was referring to was an attempt several years ago to issue furloughs that would have reduced compensation to city officials, only to be told by the Indiana State Board of Accounts that such action was improper. Therefore, the “raise” was merely the mayor’s salary being restored to previous levels.

In fact, Freeman-Wilson says her salary as mayor is identical to what was received by Rudy Clay, who served as Gary mayor from 2006 to 2012. “At no time have I altered my salary,” she said.